Assassin's Creed: Homeland, Key Recollections
by AuroranHellcat
Summary: This series is related to the series Assassin's Creed: Homeland, First Meetings. This set of one shots in a somewhat random order recount the adventures of both Johanna and her adopted daughter Anastasia as the progress through the 19th century as Assassins of the Great Lakes Order. This represents the key moments in their lives.
1. Chapter 1

BEGIN MEMORY CLIP, JOHANNA MACNAMARA, CHICAGO/FT. DEERBORN, 1848

The wind held a chill as it blew out of the north. It rifled through the hair of Johanna MacNamara as she stared down from the rooftop. The sun was approaching the Western horizon and had taken on a red-gold light. Shadows were long as the night approached and as Johanna looked us, she could see the first stars as day slowly gave way to the inkiness of night. It was the perfect night for an assassination.

Johanna was a new assassin and she felt that sense of not being ready keenly. It had barely been 3 months since a lawyer by the name of Abraham Lincoln had discovered her surrounded by blood in the barn of her family's farm. Then, Johanna had been scared, ready to bolt. Now, she was still scared, but her characteristic determination had returned with training. This new life of being an Assassin was daunting on the best of days.

She looked to her side to see her latest mentor: Edward Miller. He was 3 years older than Johanna but she had found herself fascinated by the man's commitment to the Order and his aggressive dealings with the enemy Templars. On top of all this, Johanna could not help but be drawn to the eyes: steel grey eyes that seemed to become soft as clay at times, but hard as metal other times. This man had her attention. But now, she could only think of what he had just told her.

"Are you certain, Mentor?" Johanna asked quietly. Johanna's eyes were following an older man that was approaching them from the south. He had not noticed them.

"I am." Edward replied. "Look Johanna. I plainly understand that you are new to the brotherhood, but remember the tenets of our Creed. One of them is to never allow the order to be compromised. This informant intends to barter his knowledge of our hideouts to the Templars. We cannot allow that to happen."

"I understand that!" Johanna clipped. "I just don't understand why he has to die. I know all you see is an informant that has betrayed us. But me, I see a man who is most likely a father, a husband. What of his children?"

Edward stared for a moment and then answered, "I cannot say to that. Mercy will serve you well at times, Johanna. But the life of an assassin is always a life spent inflicting pain. One hopes that at the end of it all, there will be a better world."

Johanna didn't answer to that. She had made her case and failed, again. Edward confounded her with the simplest arguments. She could not stand it and the man infuriated her. She quickly stamped down her anger before it could boil over. She quickly unsheathed her hidden blade.

"Kill quickly, Johanna. I will meet you back at the hideout. Send a pigeon if you find yourself lost. I will find you."

She huffed in response and set to work. The shadows of the buildings would make this kill slightly more difficult. However, she believed she could do it. He approached closer, still unwitting. Finally, Johanna saw her opening and hurled herself over the side, hidden blade at the ready.

The blade came down...

And sliced through square in the chest. The force of her impact had knocked the man on his back. He wheezed as his fading eyes found Johanna's tearing ones. He coughed bloodily as she laid him down gently. "I hope you're happy, Assassin." He did not say much more besides some disjointed words. As the last lights faded from his eyes. Johanna closed them.

She said, "I'm not, sir. I hope I'm never happy doing this. Rest in Peace."

There were few street-goers at this time in the evening, but those that were had seen the murder in plain sight. Some were calling for the sheriff. Others were asking for a gun. This was Johanna's cue to make her escape. Her tall, lithe frame sprang into the darkness between two buildings and she ran in a zig-zagging pattern through the buildings, never looking back.

If she had, she was afraid she would cry. She willed herself to keep moving. Soon enough, she saw that unique symbol engraved on a brick. It was unmistakable as she came to a stop. The next door over would be her destination: an assassin den.

She hoped, no she prayed to a God she hoped was listening still, that if she had to kill, it was not like that. The Assassins were her life now. But that did not mean that she would take death lightly...ever.

END MEMORY CLIP


	2. Chapter 2

MEMORY START

COPPER HARBOR LIGHT, UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN

AUGHUST 29TH, 1851

SYNCHRONIZE

Johanna MacNamara was uncomfortable to say the least. Her new woolen Assassin's robes were still scratchy and had yet to take on the worn comfort of wear. The heat stifled any sort of complaint as well. The only respite was the cool breeze that came off of the largest of the Great Lakes just bare feet from where she knelt. Even at just under fifty feet above the ground, she couldn't help but feel a certain sense of vertigo. This was multiplied by the reason that she was here on top of this lighthouse.

Below this newly constructed lighthouse was the older temple of the Assassins. This structure dated back further than anyone in living memory could recall. Some said that it was an ancient Chippewa shrine. However, since the turn of the century, the Assassins had commandeered it, so Mr. Lincoln said, for this most auspicious of ceremonies: the induction of a new brother or sister into the order. On this day, Johanna knew, that person would be herself.

A slight cough brought Johanna back to the present. Mr. Lincoln had stepped out from the staircase and was taking his place in front of Johanna. On his right stood Edward Miller. Her heart couldn't help but flutter a small amount at the sight of him. He hardly ever looked so clean. He always seemed to dive into the deepest cesspool the cities of this frontier had to offer and somehow come out alive. Yet she loved him for it. Johanna wasn't sure how long this wonderful time of bliss would last, but she hoped it would.

On Mr. Lincoln's left stood someone that shocked her. Her composure was somewhat shaken as Madame Lillian came into her vision. She wore a dress of fine linen, but was cut far more conservatively than she had ever seen the woman wearing. Amazingly, Johanna had never seen her look more dignified. The look was spoiled slightly when they made eye contact and Lillian frowned slightly and mouthed the words, "I'll explain later, girly." Johanna's question died on her lips at that.

Suddenly, Johanna heard a faint humming. Her searching ears led her to refocus again on Mr. Lincoln. In his somewhat raspy voice he intoned, "Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine." In a more normal cadence, Mr. Lincoln continued, "Nothing is true; everything is permitted. The wisdom and lore of our Creed is held in these words. Today we have a potential new sister come to join our brotherhood. Johanna Katerina MacNamara, do you wish, without coercion or dissent, wish to join the brotherhood of the Assassins?"

Johanna gulped slightly and responded, "Yes. I am ready to pledge my heart and life to the order."

Mr. Lincoln then moved into the lighthouse chamber and exposed the burning oil that lit the way for passing ships. Within it was a set of clamps. It's tips glowed red with heat and Johanna winced for the coming pain. Mr. Lincoln then elaborated, "Once it was the practice of our brothers and sisters to cut off the ring finger of our blade hand. However, we have found other ways that are just as permanent. You will receive the brand of our mark regardless Johanna, but it is up to you whether you will also receive the tattoo of our order. How say you?

Rather than speaking, Johanna simply nodded. "It is settled then." Mr. Lincoln said. "Edward, if you please, hold out Johanna's hand and extend her ring finger." Edward complied immediately, but spared a moment to lay a comforting touch on Johanna's arm. Her heart skipped a beat again and she hardly noticed. Mr. Lincoln had fully drawn the glowing tongs and had placed them above and below her extended ring finger. He then intoned as he closed, "Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember..."

Johanna twisted in agony, but recovered herself as the tongs were released. She replied in a strangled voice, "Nothing is true."

Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember..."

"Everything is permitted." Johanna again replied.

At that moment, Edward, Mr. Lincoln, and Johanna spoke as one, "We work in the dark to serve the light. We are Assassins." As per the ceremony, Johanna was finally allowed to stand. Her knees hurt after the feeling of the rough stone of the lighthouse. She held her hand up and saw it: the ancient mark of the Assassins branded into her skin. She was marked now. A strange sense of satisfaction swept over Johanna in that moment. Somehow, she felt...right again.

Yet, the ceremony was not finished, as Mr. Lincoln took one step forward toward Johanna. He intoned again, "You bear our mark and wear our blade and know our ways Johanna. However, there is one more step to your journey. You must take the Leap of Faith. Follow us, and join us as a full sister to us." He turned then to Lillian and returned to his normal voice, "Good madame, you are more than welcome to join us in this part of the ceremony. I hope there are no hard feelings."

Lillian began to spit in disgust but then stopped herself. She drew herself up, which was not at all tall by Johanna's perspective. "Stair suit me just fine Mr. Lincoln." She replied curtly. "You fools go and break your necks." From the corner of her eye though Johanna saw a gleam in the older woman's face that experience told her that she was making light of the situation. Lillian had softened in the years since meeting Johanna. She was not sure why Lillian had had her change of heart, but at times, it could be as subtle as a wisp, or as direct as a bull. Today was the wisp.

Without another word, Mr. Lincoln and Edward lined up single-file with Johanna at the rear. The vast waters of the big lake stretched below. Suddenly, Mr. Lincoln leaped from the top and began to plummet. Edward then went and it was then Johanna's turn. She stared at the water below in a slight fit of turmoil. She was afraid.

Looking up and around, she noticed a slight fading of her vision and then a refocus. She then saw a spot that seemed to glow in the water. She knew her target now. Without another second thought, Johanna leapt clear of the lighthouse and prepared herself for the plunge in a perfect arrow form.

The cold hit her like a sledgehammer as her hands pierced the water. Her enhanced vision shattered and the world returned to normal. As she bobbed to the surface, Johanna desperately tried to reach for that wonderful vision again. She was sure it was the so-called Eagle Vision of the ancient Assassins. However, all she saw was the dim blue auras surrounding the heads of Mr. Lincoln and Edward. Her disappointment was quickly overshadowed by the beaming smiles on the two men facing her.

"Welcome to the Great Lakes Order of Assassins, Johanna.", Edward said without a hint of his usual playful mockery. Johanna smiled back and then began to swim to shore. This water was cold enough to sap the life from a person quickly. But the warmth she felt inside felt like she had a pot belly stove on right next to her heart. She could make it.

On this day, an Assassin is born in the wilds of the Upper Peninsula.

MEMORY END

DESYNCHRONIZE


End file.
